Empowering Independent Business Communities

Creating a more local world where indie businesses can reward loyalty, be discovered and challenge larger chain experiences with Pixie.

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1,000

Indie Businesses Profiles

6,000+

Active Monthly Users

10,500

App Payments Made

The Problem?

From artisan coffee shops to vintage clothing stores. Independent businesses all across the UK were being pushed out of local communities, as they struggled to compete with the technology larger chains were using.

Pixie believes that where, how and why you spend your time and money matters; it helps to build connections. They needed a tech solution that would bring people back to local communities full of unique independent businesses and people to experience and connect to.

The Solution.

In order to compete with larger chains, these indie businesses needed a platform to reach out on and become discoverable by younger, more tech-savvy audiences, who value the culture that indie businesses provide.

3 SIDED CUBE designed and developed a platform and a new kind of app, one that lets you find, pay and earn loyalty points in all those hard to find indie businesses.

What does the app do?

Discovering indie businesses

Pixie let communities search for different types of indie businesses, find out where they are and how to get to them. Access to a hidden-favourites guide and cultural information always written by locals adds a personal experience.

Helping out the little guy

Pixie aids in creating beautifully designed shop profiles giving people a far greater ability to find hidden gems. Integrated with Google Maps and using photos and bios that capture the essence of each brand, not only empowering their culture but also giving them the voices they deserve.

Creating a loyal community

Reward loyal customers with Pixie points that they can use the next time they visit your store. As well as receiving surprise “top-up treats” and challenging people to top the Pixie charts.

Changing the way we pay

Providing contactless mobile payments so people no longer have to take their piggy-banks to go shopping. A retailer-only app allows them to accept payments that they previously couldn’t simply by scanning a QR code.

How David beat Goliath.

Picture this.

You live in a community full of rich history and culture, represented in the unique and sometimes weird or wacky independent stores scattered around those lesser known parts of the high street. But to your surprise slowly but surely you’re seeing these hidden gems shutting down as they fail to compete with the larger chains that rule over so many locations across the country.

Many local indie businesses do not have the capacity to create effective marketing channels or accept mobile payments through a lack of often expensive technology.

They achieved the project on time and with quality. They’ve been very flexible in understanding our requirements and pushed back if they had a better solution.

Greg Barden, Founder, Pixie

CUBE developed the app using React Native so that it would operate effectively on both Android and iOS, meaning that development costs could be kept to a minimum. On top of this, we also used rapid prototyping as a way to build, test and make changes throughout the development process. This series of continuous improvement sprints based on real insights from users has helped to create a slick platform that has allowed independent businesses to flourish.

Awards

Fun Fact

The idea came from former England rugby player Greg Barden, founder of Pixie. He wanted to empower independent retailers in his local Bath community. The app is now rolling out nationwide due to its success including becoming the exclusive provider for the Bath independent markets, as well as the transaction provider for stalls at Bath Festival.